Why mathematicians ignore holidays: Oct 31 = Dec 25.

2004.02.25

Throwing a bit of seed out in front of the picture window makes splendid kitty TV. Inside the highlighted circle is a recently-awakened chipmunk. The same hedge is also usually full of chickadees, nuthatches and cardinals, which makes all-day entertainment for Huey!

I haven't been doing much fiber work this week. Most of my spare time has been devoted instead to digitizing LPs. That has gone very well, since my records were in better shape than I had hoped. I do plan to spin this afternoon. Poor Bear crashed on a patch of ice, and I'm staying at home to watch for any swellings before the vet closes for the day.

2004.02.20

I bought a turntable today, because I've got a bunch of LPs stashed in the spare room that will never, ever be released on CD, and I've been hankering to hear a few of them. One in particular is My Song Is My Own by Frankie Armstrong, Kathy Henderson, Sandra Kerr and Alison McMorland - and it was even near the front of the pile and sounds surprisingly clean. Also, there are a couple of Debbie McClatchy albums buried a little deeper. I'm going to rifle through the boxes and transfer the ones I want to MiniDisc, then to computer for pop/click cleanup, and finally to the iPod.

Put the eggs and oil into the bread machine bucket. Add the dry ingredients. As the machine starts to knead, watch the dough - it will probably be dry and crumbly. Use a spray bottle of water to spritz the dough lightly just until it forms into a ball. Let the machine knead for 10 to 15 minutes more until the ball of dough is glossy and firm. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest for a while. Roll into your favorite kind of pasta.

I'll use this batch to make cavatelli, one of my favorites for a quick meal. I get the durum, semolina and spinach powder from King Arthur. I can buy tiny amounts of semolina locally, but not the more finely milled durum, so it's much easier to mail-order larger quantities.

2004.02.16

With the help of the heating pad, I got about a half bobbin of Pitt Island spun yesterday. I also finished the first (of the second pair) of Gotland/Shetland socks and started the second sock during today's Bloody Awful Meeting. I need to wind another ball of the Gotland tonight, although what's left of the Shetland is probably enough.

And it was good and nippy this morning. At some point during the night, the temperature dipped to -17F, and the hydraulic fluid in the clutch was pretty thick at 6 am.

Note to the Googling crowd: I have absolutely no idea how much fiber is in an orange, a banana or an entire bale of hay.

2004.02.15

This is a basket of Pitt Island wool, predrafted and ready to spin. I had gotten it on eBay a few months ago, not realizing it was carded in the grease. That's definitely not my favorite to spin, but the predrafting should make it behave a little better. I'll do this as my standard fine 3-ply and add it to the collection of naturals. Some may go into socks, but I also want to weave a plaid blanket in a range of sheepy colors. There's certainly more than enough yardage on hand ...

Update: The heating pad works. I keep the ball I'm spinning from on it, along with two others, and they get just warm enough to make the grease behave.

2004.02.14

I finished plying the Clun Forest singles (yippee, another fleece bites the dust!), so I took the WooLee Winder apart to clean. As I was scrubbing the parts, the pawl went *clink* into the sink strainer. Now how fast, exactly, can one turn off the faucet? Very, as it turns out. It took some feeling around, but I recovered the pawl. Whew.

And I stuck my head in at the guild meeting long enough to hand over the accumulated emails and make a strong recommendation (again) of a guild-hosted website. We'll see what happens ...

2004.02.13

Back at last! I haven't been using my home computer for the last two days, because I've been preparing to upgrade to Panther. It was no big deal, but I've been working with computers too long to make changes without backup. So after a day and a half of prep, Panther is running, along with the new iLife software. I'd love to get the Adobe CS package too, but that's more than I feel like spending right now, even at academic prices, especially when the old versions are still working.

Tomorrow is our guild meeting. I have to write up a document geared for Luddites and technophobes to convince them to cough up the money for a domain name, minimal web hosting and email forwarding. My email address and URL are still linked to the guild name (dating from my totally unlamented stint as newsletter editor), and I'm fed up to the back teeth with handling requests for info. This won't be the first time I've brought up the subject, and I'lll need to grit my teeth exceptionally hard to be polite. (Frankly, staying home to weave off the warp on the small loom would be a lot more satisfying and useful ...)

2004.02.09

2004.02.08

I just finished baking a Scandanavian Gold Cake, which is a pound cake with toasted almond flour from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. It's almost cool enough to glaze and smells heavenly. This cake is for a dinner party tonight, but I think I'll have to make another one to freeze for snacks.

2004.02.07

OK, slush has been moved, errands run (including replacing mailbox with rusted door hanging by a thread), and I've leafed through the mail. That included the spring edition of Interweave Knits, in which nothing much caught my eye except a pair of lace socks and an "Heirloom Aran Baby Set". The latter made me say "been there, done that" - about 17 years ago. Oh, wait, I noticed the sweatpants, if only in major disbelief that anyone would bother to make them.

So now I think it's a good time to finish spinning the last basket full of Clun Forest balls. Right brain - engage! Left brain - go to hell!

2004.02.06

I haven't gotten around to spinning or knitting yet. Too bummed by a phone call this morning from Webs to say they were out of the black Brora Softspun (ordered Jan 6!). Since I absolutely need black and since a true black is a bear to dye, I cancelled the whole order. I'm going to look at the merino/cashmere in the stash. It's a lighter weight yarn than I had wanted for the shadow weave blanket, but it might work and I have more than enough in the right colors.

Mighty baking occurred here today. The first loaf of soda bread came out of the oven by 7:30; the yeast bread was done by 9; and I did a second soda bread in the early afternoon. I have enough raisins for a third loaf, so I may make that one tomorrow.

The weather was truly gross this morning - very heavy sleet and freezing rain - but it tapered off in the late morning. I waited until just a little while ago to clear the driveway to make sure the freezing rain had stopped. No point in creating a skating rink.

2004.02.05

Urk, crappy weather is rapidly approaching again. On the bright side, I think it may give me a reason to stay home tomorrow. It's not the significant snowfall that bothers me, but the "chance of freezing rain with significant icing". That's power outage weather and a very good reason to stick close to the generator. I did make a grocery run this afternoon. In fact, it was an exceptionally heavy one. Russet potatoes were a 2-for-1, so there went 10 pounds. I was also out of unbleached white flour and white whole wheat (both King Arthur flours). Voila, 20 pounds there! Plus a gallon of milk, a half gallon of buttermilk and raisins. That will do a couple of Irish soda breads in the morning, and I've got a sponge for yeast bread rising overnight. Unfortunately, I left the eggs at work. A co-worker has a small flock of Rhode Island Reds, and my next door neighbor and I buy most of our fresh eggs from her. Oh, well, I'll grab those Saturday morning at the latest.

If I am at home tomorrow - and dying for Cornell ranks very low on the list of my future goals - I plan to finish the toe of the sock, get somewhere with the taquete sample, and spin the rest of the Clun Forest that's left in the (very small) basket. I have the works of Rocky and Bullwinkle to keep me company. (Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!)